Gender Inequality
Gender Inequality
Gender
Definition
Historically, the term gender was adapted to distinguish the biological sex between male and
female. Gender is said to be socially constructed roles and responsibilities of man and women.
Social Construction means that the idea is developed by society or an idea constructed through
culture. The difference in the role of man and women come from our society, family and culture.
It includes our expectations about the characteristics, attitudes and behaviors of women and men.
Gender Inequality
Definition
Gender inequality refers to inequality in conditions among women and men for realizing their
full human rights. Gender inequality exists all over the world but mostly in today’s world exist in
developing countries.
Gender is one of the organizing principles of a society in Pakistan. The word gender in
Pakistan is only limited to male and female. Pakistan is a patriarchal society where women suffer
all sorts of discrimination, resulting in low social, economic and political status in the society.
Education
Environment
Traditions
Stereotypes
Women is said to be the Homemaker while Man is the bread earner. They are conceptually
divided into two different worlds. Usually sons are the one given better education and daughters
are married of at an early age to start her own house. Families spend most of their time and
money on their sons as they consider them to be the future of their family. Wife’s and daughter
are meant to be at home as they are considered the “RESPECT” of the family while men are
allowed to go wherever they want and do whatever they want. In some families a woman needs
to keep giving birth till they produce an “heir” as a daughter isn’t the one to carry the family
name.
Ownership Inequality
In Pakistan the ownership of property can be unequal. Even basic assets such as home and land
are asymmetrically shared. Even though Islam has given women right of property and
inheritance people considering women as a weak individual take advantage of that.
In Education
Gender Inequalities in education exist in almost all poor countries. There has been a considerable
increase in gender inequality in education in low income countries over the last three decades
(World Bank, 2001). Pakistan also exhibits considerable gender inequality in education. Strong
gender gaps exist in rural and urban areas and among the provinces. A man is considered to be
feeble if he wants to continue his education in the line of arts in some other major like English or
International Relations. They are usually given the choice only between Doctor or Engineer.
Statistics
Rural
There are 7.6 million girls enrolled in the rural areas as compared to 11.5 million boys. Whereas
in the rural areas (68 per cent of the total population), out of 6,87,613 teachers, only 40 per cent
are females as compared to 60 per cent males.
Urban
However, the gap in enrolment has been narrowed down in the case of urban areas as 6.7 million
girls are enrolled as compared to 7.5 million boys. Out of the total of 6,69,189 teachers working
in urban areas, 62 per cent are females while 38 per cent are males.
Professional Inequality
Men and Women working on the same post are still given a salary difference. The pay of a man
tends to be higher than a woman because of the biased way the capabilities are compared.
Promotions are preferred to be given to a man.
Example
Professional inequality can be seen in all types of professions from a sales clerk to an actress.
The female cashiers usually earn less than the male employees involved in stacking shelves and
other more physical tasks. Many Pakistani actresses have come forward on the inequality in the
salary given to a man and women.
This was a period of liberal attitudes towards women. All government services were opened to
women including the district management group and the foreign service (in the civil service),
which had been denied to them earlier. The implementations of the policies in the seats of
National Assembly provincial and general were poor as the financial crisis the Government faced
due to war with India.
Gender equality was specifically guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan adopted in 1973. The
constitution specifies that
In 1975, an official delegation from Pakistan participated in the First World Conference on
Women in Mexico, which led to the constitution of the first Pakistan Women's Rights
Committee.
A lot of work for women rights had be done. They were given the right to marry freely but the
hoodoo legislation could not be overcome. The first All Women University by the name of
Fatima Jinnah was inaugurated in 1998.
the Pakistani parliament passed the Women's Protection Bill, repealing some of the Hudood
Ordinances. The passing of the Bill and the consequent signing of it into law by President
General Pervez Musharraf invoked protests from hard-line Islamist leaders and organizations
which shows gender discrimination still exists.
Pakistan has a dual system of civil and Sharia law. The constitution of Pakistan recognizes
equality between men and women.
Conclusion
Gender Discrimination is no were near ending in Pakistan even though work is being done on it.
Majority people have accepted it as a culture and prefer to remain silent then raise their voices on
debatable issues which will give them a bad reputation. Inequality can only be stopped if the
society works on it together and the Government gives equal rights to both man and women.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Pakistan
Sen, A. (2001). The many faces of gender inequality. New republic, 35-39.
Chaudhry, I. S. (2007). Gender inequality in education and economic growth: case study of
Pakistan. Pakistan Horizon, 60(4), 81-91.
Hall, K., & Bucholtz, M. (Eds.). (2012). Gender articulated: Language and the socially constructed self.
Routledge.
Chaudhry, I. S., & Rahman, S. (2009). The impact of gender inequality in education on rural poverty in
Pakistan: an empirical analysis. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative
Sciences, 15(1), 174-188.